The United States has transferred five individuals to the southern African nation of Eswatini as part of an expanded deportation initiative under the Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Tuesday.
This move follows a recent Supreme Court decision that lifted restrictions on deporting individuals to countries where they have no personal or familial ties. Earlier, eight men were sent to South Sudan under the same program.
According to a late night post on X by DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, the five men citizens of Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen, and Laos arrived in Eswatini by air. McLaughlin stated that all five had criminal convictions and claimed their countries of origin refused to accept them back, describing them as “individuals so uniquely barbaric.”
Eswatini’s government has not publicly confirmed any agreement to receive third country deportees, nor has it commented on the status or future of the individuals now within its borders.
The Trump administration has indicated plans to pursue further agreements with African nations to accept deportees who are not their citizens. However, resistance has emerged; Nigeria, for example, has declined to accept non-Nigerian deportees despite U.S. pressure.
In addition to African nations, the U.S. has also relocated hundreds of Venezuelan and other nationals to Central American countries including Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Panama.
Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, is a landlocked country bordered by South Africa and Mozambique, with a population of around 1.2 million. It remains Africa’s only absolute monarchy, ruled by King Mswati III since 1986. Political parties are largely banned, and human rights groups have long accused the monarchy of suppressing dissent, sometimes through force.
